Newspaper Admits Telemed Abortions Are Done Illegally In Iowa

Blogger Jill Stanek has made some good points concerning an editorial that ran Sunday in the Des Moines Register supporting Planned Parenthood of the Heartland’s push-button telemed abortion scheme. She points out that the editorial board essentially admits that PPH is currently violating the law that requires that only licensed physicians can do abortions in Iowa. The Register called for changes in the law to make PPH’s remote controlled distribution scheme legal.

“Instead of changing the law, how about enforcing it,” said Operation Rescue President Troy Newman. “It is shocking that the Des Moines Register would advocate for endangering women by decriminalizing the unlicensed practice of medicine. It shows that for these people, abortion politics comes before the health and safety of women.”

Stanek also points out that the Register simply regurgitated PPH’s propaganda that they have done 1,500 telemed abortions without any complications. However PPH’s own literature admits that incomplete abortions occur 3-4 percent of the time with women who take the abortion pill. That would mean as many as 60 women may have suffered from this potentially life-threatening abortion complication. Stanek calls Planned Parenthood’s claim “incredible” and we agree it is without credibility.

It could also be added that the Register points out that telemedicine is legitimately used for psychiatric evaluations and x-ray examination by radiologists, then irrationally tries to lump a medical procedure like abortion in with it. No one ever died from talking to a psychiatrist or having their x-rays viewed, but at least 13 women have died and over 1,100 more have suffered complications from the abortion pill, making the procedure too dangerous to be done without a tactile examination from a licensed physician or without any physical oversight by a licensed physician. (Although it could be argued that the abortion pill is not safe – at least not for the pre-born child – under any circumstances.)